Apple’s iTunes Music Sales Have Dipped 13% Worldwide in 2014 [Report]

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Apple’s iTunes Music Sales Have Dipped 13% Worldwide in 2014 [Report]

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Apple is the world’s biggest seller of music, but it has seen digital music sales plummet by 13% to 14% worldwide this year, according to people familiar with the matter, as cited by the Wall Street Journal.

Looking at just the US market, revenue from digital music sales dropped 12% in the first half of 2014, the Recording Industry Association of America revealed. However, the 23% jump in paid-subscription service revenue drove overall digital revenue to $2.2 billion during the same period of this year, says the WSJ.

So what are Apple’s plans for Beats Music? There were rumours — denied by Apple — that it would shut down the service. Currently, Apple is willing to go as low as $5 a month, but according to the WSJ’s sources, the days of Beats Music as a separate entity are numbered. It is part of the Apple family now, so it will go through a transformation process, as detailed earlier last month. The result: a brand-new iTunes that will incorporate the subscription service the company acquired.

The plummeting download numbers help illustrate why Apple bought the $10-a-month subscription streaming service Beats Music earlier this year, as part of its $3 billion acquisition that included headphone maker Beats Electronics. Apple is rebuilding Beats Music and plans to relaunch it next year as part of iTunes, according to a person familiar with the matter.

Until then, let’s hope iTunes Radio will finally arrive in Canada this year.